Tip #1: Stay on topic. Sure, everyone might be sharing pictures of their birthday cakes this year, but if your website sells flower seeds, don’t create content about birthday cakes – unless those cakes are decorated like flower gardens (in which case, jump on the trend-du-jour and cake away!).

Tip #2: Go wide. Yes, stay on topic, but pick topics and angles that have the broadest possible appeal. Create content that will appeal to your target market and also be of interest to a broader audience. For instance, if you sell restaurant equipment, create content about cooking in general that relates to restaurant cooks, but also to regular folks.

Tip #3: Be original. All too often on the Internet “unique content” means that it can pass Copyscape. If that’s how you think, please read this post on what it means to be “original” before engaging in content marketing. Spoiler alert: It’s not just words that have to be unique; the thinking needs to be original.

Tip #4: Create visuals. One of the keys to getting your content shared on websites like Google Plus, Facebook and Pinterest where visuals attract the most attention, is to have good quality images. By good quality, we mean:

Tip #5: Multimedia. Not all content is text. Infographics are content. So are videos. And slide shows. And downloads. These tips apply to all types of content. The one caveat is that search engines read only text, and when people share your content on Twitter or Facebook, they need to use words. So at least a little text is a good thing to accompany even videos, Infographics and slideshows. Check out some of the Infographics we have done.

Tip #6: Catchy title. Make it catchy, so as to maximize click-throughs.

Tip #7: Keyword titles. If you can fit keywords into your content’s title, do so. But – never at the expense of click-throughs. Catchiness and arousing interest are more important.

Tip #8: Clever titles – not! Don’t get too clever with your titles. Using puns and humor can backfire. People are busy, and if it is not immediately clear what your content is about and why it should be of interest, they will just pass your content by. Never sacrifice clarity for cleverness.

Tip #9: Long or short. Yes. Make it long. Or make it short. But don’t make it one word longer than you need to say what you want to say. And don’t make it one word shorter than you need to say what you want to say. Here is our advice about word counts in more detail.

Tip #10: Spread it wide. You need to have a large network in social media, with a wide reach. Build that network or hire someone like us who already has that network. Either way, you need to reach both your target market and a wide “general” public to get your content spread far and wide.

Your content marketing strategy shows lots of promise. How do we know? Because you have just read the most important ten content marketing tips in the universe